Crustaceans Are Delicious!
Saturday, May 31-Sunday, June 1, 2025
Crustaceans Are Delicious!
Today’s special animal friend is the California spiny lobster, Panulirus interruptus. Spiny lobsters, the Family Palinuridae, are a group of about 60 species of crustaceans. In spite of the name, they are quite distinct from the for-realsies lobsters, the Family Nephropidae, which are more closely related to freshwater crayfish. The most obvious difference is that spiny (and furry, and squat) lobsters do not have claws.
Spiny lobsters are found in warm seas around the world. The California spiny lobster is one of the largest species. Males can grow up to 24” long and weigh 16 lbs., but 12” in length is more typical. Their exoskeletons are mostly red or brownish red, and they have light streaks on their legs. They have two long, spiny antennae at the front.
They are found in the Gulf of California and along the Pacific coast of northern Mexico and southern California. The northern limit of their breeding range is San Luis Obispo, CA, but they can be found in Monterey Bay and sometimes farther north due to larvae’s being carried north by currents.
California spiny lobsters are a species of Least Concern. They live up to 50 years and begin breeding at about five years of age. Females produce one batch of eggs per year, and the number increases as the females grow older. An older female can lay 680,000 eggs in a year. They hatch after about 10 weeks and live as zooplankton before undergoing metamorphosis into juvenile lobsters.
Adult spiny lobsters are nocturnal and carnivorous. They live in fairly deep water, around 200 feet, and eat shellfish and other invertebrates. Natural predators include fish, octopi, and sea otters. They are fished both commercially and recreationally in the U.S. and Mexico. Rather unexpectedly, the Mexican fishery is considered well managed by conservationists. Good for you, Comisión Federal de Pesca de México.
Fishing is done with lobster traps, hoop nets, or by hand.
California spiny lobsters have been a popular food for as long as people have lived on the relevant coastlines. Unlike Greenland shark, they are said to be delicious.
Vlad has another kind of antibiotics (4th kind) for his toe. If this doesn't work, they'll have to take his toenail off. He said the podiatrist told him, "It won't be fun."
"....we are going to repetitively rub our butter lemon sauce.... on it....while it's on the grill."
Repetitively.
My mouth is watering. Unfortunately, I don't have any lobster in my refrigerator. Ham and eggs will have to do.